Clinton 2013: Businessmen Candidates Should Run; They Can’t Be Bought

by Kody Fairfield

Democratic Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has spent her entire campaign railing against her Republican rival, businessman Donald Trump. However, in 2013, during a closed-doors Goldman Sachs speech, she appeared to champion businessman candidates, saying that they were essentially not “buyable.”

In a transcript released by Wikileaks of a paid speech at an event called the, “Goldman Sachs: Builders and Innovators Summit,” on October 29, 2013, a conversation between a male attendee and Clinton was recorded as follows:

Attendee-“My question is, as entrepreneurs, we risk a lot. And Mike Bloomberg had 30 billion other reasons than to take office. Do we need a wholesale change in Washington that has more to do with people that don’t need the job than have the job?”

Clinton- “That’s a really interesting question. You know, I would like to see more successful business people run for office. I really would like to see that because I do think, you know, you don’t have to have $30 billion, but you have a certain level of freedom. And there’s that memorable phrase from a former member of the Senate: ‘You can be maybe rented but never bought.’ And I think it’s important to have people with those experiences.”

“And especially now, because many of you in this room are on the cutting edge of technology or health care or some other segment of the economy, so you are people who look over the horizon. And coming into public life and bringing that perspective as well as the success and the insulation that success gives you could really help in a lot of our political situations right now.”

  WIKILEAKS TRANS OF BUILDERS AND INNOVATORS SUMMIT HRC by kody on Scribd

While this quote is obviously not a direct endorsement of Trump running for President, the situational irony of her statement is quite comical, given that Trump claims to be exactly what she describes: a wealthy businessman who cannot be bought and can fund his own campaign. It is for these reasons that articles from places like The Rightists are promoting false quotes about Clinton actually praising Trump, in what was a supposed elaboration on her answer, are so believable.

Adding to what looks like the collusion of the two is the deep personal connections the candidates had, prior to Trump announcing his candidacy for President. Trump used to be highly complimentary of the Clintons, and the Clintons attended Trump and his current wife Melania Trump‘s wedding in 2005.

Sometimes, it is hard not to believe that this is all a ruse, and that the American populace is not a caged animal with a flawed perception of its own freedom and capabilities.